"Faith and politics: voting God's values," 10.28.12

Matthew 25:31-45

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Romans 13:1-10

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing.

⁷Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. ⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

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             I’m doing something a bit dangerous, this next couple of weeks. I’m preaching about faith and politics. Last night with a group of people I mentioned that was the sermon topic for the morning and you’d have thought I threw a grenade. Everyone had something to say; some were excited, others worried, surprised or even angry that I would do such a thing. Don’t worry: I’m not going to tell you who I think you should vote for. This is not going to be a partisan sermon, or a rant, or a scolding. It doesn’t matter to me who you vote for, but it does matter to me that you vote, and that you take your faith with you into the voting booth.

My job as a Christian is to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ. When I say Jesus is Lord, what I mean is that I want to obey him in my life. That’s supposed to mean my whole life. Of course, saying it and living it are not exactly the same. I’m human, so I am not perfect. But I hope each day to bring my actions closer to my intentions by spending time in prayer, reading the Bible and practicing my faith consciously. Each day I should get better at seeking and following Christ’s direction in everything I do.

In the same way, my goal as a pastor is to help you grow in your discipleship and to help Laurelton get better at nurturing people for their spiritual growth. I want us to get better at living our faith together. I want this community to reflect Christ’s love more clearly each day in how we treat each other and how we treat our neighbors. I want us to get better at following God in everything we do, which includes thinking about our faith as we decide how to vote.

Politics is how a community lives together and governs itself. Elections are part of that, but so is how we spend our money and time, how we interact with our neighbors, how we raise our children,. Right now when we think about politics, we think especially about the community we call the United States of America, and the upcoming elections for President and many other offices. But ultimately, politics is less about who wins this election and more about what kind of country we want to live in, what kind of country we want to build together.

Next week we’re going to focus on loving each other when we disagree. This week we’ll focus on what our faith tells us about life’s priorities and the role of government.

Let’s start with priorities of life and faith. I chose this passage from Matthew because it gets at the core of what our faith is about. Jesus tells his listeners what will happen at the end of time when he comes in glory to rule and judge the nations. We’ve read this together recently, so I’m not going to pick it apart in detail. The point is: when Jesus judges us the question that will matter isn’t how often we went to church, how much we pledge, whether we taught Sunday school or smoked cigarettes, or read the Bible. Instead, the question Jesus will ask is how we treated the hungry, the naked, the sick, the lonely and those in prison. The question that Jesus thinks is most important is how we treat those people who are easiest to ignore. Jesus calls them, “the least of these who are members of my family.”

Neither of our presidential candidates talks much about “the least of these.” Neither one talks about the people on the margins of society, even though most of us realize that we could be right there with a few unlucky breaks. We know that if we lose our job at same time we have a major medical problem, we will be headed for financial catastrophe very quickly. That’s not the priority of our political parties. People living in poverty don’t contribute much money to political campaigns and they are not as likely to vote as people with higher income.

Both of our presidential candidates, in fact all of our candidates, talk a lot about the middle class, but not much about the poor. Jesus talked about the poor a lot, and never mentioned the middle class. Don’t get me wrong; supporting the middle class is important. A strong middle class has been one of the keys to the stability of US society from the beginning of our nation. But as people who follow Jesus, caring about the poor is not optional; it is the thing Jesus tells us we will be judged on when the world ends.

"loving when we disagree," 11.4.12

Romans 14:1-13

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. ⁵Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” ¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God. ¹³Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 3:3-5, 9-11, 16-23
¹⁰Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹²What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? ⁴For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? ⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth…. ⁹For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. ¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. ¹⁶Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” ²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

²¹So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, ²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

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            The early church was an amazingly diverse community. In the months after Jesus’ death and resurrection the first few disciples became hundreds and then thousands by the power of the Holy Spirit. Even in the beginning, when everyone joining the community was Jewish, there was a wide mix of different cultures and languages. Soon the church was discussing whether there was a place for people to follow Jesus and the God of Israel without keeping the laws and traditions that shaped the Jewish community. When the first church council decided that the gospel of Jesus was for everyone, with or without Moses’ law, the church’s diversity became dizzying.

            This early church contained Jewish priests and tax collectors. It contained scribes who had copied and preserved Israel’s law and people who couldn’t read. It included a few government leaders, some financially comfortable people, who supported the church by providing space to meet, and many people who struggled each day to survive. The church contained teachers and scholars as well as servants and widows. It contained slaves and slave masters.

            With all that variety, it’s no surprise there were conflicts and differences within the church. Paul spent lots of time and lots of ink advising different communities on how to stay united in the face of serious differences within the church. Paul’s wisdom is helpful for us, especially this weekend, as we face differences and division in our community.

            In the early church there were a number of important leaders who traveled to teach about Jesus. It seems some people thought a lot about which leader they felt closest to and looked down on people who identified with a different leader. That still happens in the church now as we all have favorite speakers or writers or churches who guide us in our faith. Of course, it’s great to connect with teachers and learn from them, but it’s a problem if we judge other people because of what we’ve read or who we listen to.

            Paul puts it well: Jesus Christ is the foundation for every Christian. Paul and other leaders play a part in building up believers, so each believer is a bit different, but we all have the same foundation. The buildings might look different; each teacher emphasizes different things, but the core beliefs are the same. The point is Jesus, everything else is just details.

            This emphasis is especially important in an election week when it seems like the only thing that matters is red or blue, Romney or Obama. If you’re on facebook, you probably see both funny and mean posts exalting one candidate or political party and tearing down the other. Each candidate argues that if they are elected the US will be on the right path into the future while their opponent will lead us into disaster. Don’t get me wrong: this is an important election; there are big issues ahead of us as a country and it matters how you vote, but let’s slow down for a minute and breath.

predestination and calling

Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24

¹   O LORD, you have searched me and known me.
²   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
          you discern my thoughts from far away.
³   You search out my path and my lying down,
          and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴   Even before a word is on my tongue,
          O LORD, you know it completely.
⁵   You hem me in, behind and before,
          and lay your hand upon me.
⁶   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
          it is so high that I cannot attain it.

⁷   Where can I go from your spirit?
          Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸   If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
          if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹   If I take the wings of the morning
          and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰  even there your hand shall lead me,
          and your right hand shall hold me fast.
¹¹  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
          and the light around me become night,”
¹²  even the darkness is not dark to you;
          the night is as bright as the day,
          for darkness is as light to you.

²³  Search me, O God, and know my heart;
          test me and know my thoughts.
²⁴  See if there is any wicked way in me,
          and lead me in the way everlasting.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

²⁴He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ ²⁸He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, ⁴²and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

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            This passage from Matthew always catches my attention. On the one hand, I’m not a huge fan of judgment and burning evildoers in the furnace. On the other hand, this is about the best example passage for our Presbyterian tradition of predestination, and I value that heritage. Plus, this passage inspired our first hymn, a classic Thanksgiving favorite of mine.

            Predestination is part of our tradition that we often sweep under the carpet. At the same time, it’s one of the beliefs Presbyterians are known for, so it’s important to be familiar with the basic idea. Predestination means that God knew and decided our eternal destiny long before we were born. Like the wheat and weeds in the story there is nothing anyone can do to change the outcome. No matter how you tend the plants, wheat is always wheat and weeds are always weeds.

There’s something about having our destiny fixed that rubs us the wrong way; it’s an insult to our sense of freedom and fairness. The problem with predestination is the judgment part. God judges people without any regard for what they have done. Some are wheat and some are weeds. It seems unfair and cruel.

            But the God we meet in scripture is loving, not cruel. The God we serve loves us so much that he sent Jesus into the world to call us back home. The God we know takes on our sin and defeats it once and for all. In the end, judgment is about redemption; God judges to save and redeem. God uses judgment to break human pride and selfishness so grace can flow freely for everyone. I believe that when everything is said and done God’s love will win and even the thorniest weed will be transformed in love.